Talgazan

Talgazan
Capital	None
Ruler	None
Government	No central government
Demonym	Talgazani
Adjective	Talgazan
Languages	Aurignacian, Orcish, Jotun
Religions	Talgazan pantheon; Orcish pantheon; animism; ghost and ancestor worship; other faiths

Talgazan (pronounced tall-GAH-zen) is a harsh northern landscape, with a hazardously cold climate and dangerous megafauna. Still, communities and tribes of humans, orcs, and giants manage to survive and thrive.

There is no consistent name for this part of the world. The various populations that call it home use a number of names - to most humans it is Talgazan, while it is referred to as Larrstr by the taiga giants. Some isolated, largely orcish tribes have their own name, Adgrukh, for the land. As such, it is difficult to have one name to accurately refer to the region. Laurentia is another name commonly applied to Talgazan by the settlers of Asteria yet not used by any of its inhabitants.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Well over one thousand miles across, Talgazan stretches across a massive expanse of the coldest region of the world. The hardy inhabitants of the north call the plains, forests, hills, and mountains alike home. Permanent snow cover characterizes at least part of the region, and in places with a growing season it is quite short. In the more southerly parts of Talgazan, closer to the Sentinel Peaks that separate the region from Hellea, the climate is rather more temperate.

The Wurihian Forest covers much of Talgazan, a taiga of tall spruces and pines. Farther north, the trees cannot grow and the taiga is replaced by tundra.

Four major elevated regions are within Talgazan. The Northern Wall, the massive mountain range across the high latitudes of the continent, stops all but the especially brave or hardy. To the east, the Ialgrike Peaks separate Talgazan from the Invelaust Ocean. Within Talgazan is the Runewith Mountains, full of dangerous and marvelous ancient dwarven ruins, and the Whispering Hills, the primary domain of the giants.

While a number of shallow seasonal rivers flow through Talgazan, the Garmurud River remains year round, fed by magical springs within the Ialgrike Peaks that prevent the water from freezing no matter the time of year. In addition to the magical properties, the Vadrilai Springs are naturally heated by geothermal means.

Despite the bitter cold of its northernmost reaches, Talgazan is teeming with animal life. Both small and large herbivores wander the forests, plains, and hills, including elk, moose, reindeer, and rabbits. These are preyed upon by a variety of other animals, including bears, wolves, and foxes.

More than anything else, however, Talgazan is known for the megafauna and magical creatures that live there. Mastodons, mammoths, woolly rhinos, ground sloths, steppe bison, and megaloceros wander throughout, as do smilodons, cave lions, dire wolves, and arctotherium. Some communities of Talgazan have become skilled in taming these massive animals, turning these dangerous creatures into helpful allies. Those without luck or care on their side may also encounter ice drakes or even linnorms.

A variety of fey dwell within the Wurihian Forests, and trolls are common in the hills and mountains.

History

The inhabitants of Talgazan generally care little for written history, preferring oral stories as a method to pass origin stories and traditions through generations. Few from elsewhere have cared to brave the dangers of the north to chronicle the stories that can be learned, and as such the detailed history of Talgazan remains shrouded in mystery to outsiders.

Demographics

Talgazan is inhabited by a large variety of peoples. Greatest in number are the largely nomadic human, orc, and half-orc tribes, but others make their homes in the remote north as well. A variety of giants, most notably taiga giants, dwell throughout Talgazan. Individuals of other ancestries, particularly kobolds, goblins, and half-elves, can be found in Talgazan as well, though they are much less common.

Culture

Religion

In part due to their relative isolation, the people of Talgazan have developed their own pantheon of gods that tend to focus on concerns central to life in the frigid and rough north. In particular, the importance of strength and hardiness in their landscape has caused the tribes to venerate Nemedaz and Vihansa above all other deities. Austron is also highly regarded. The Orcish pantheon aspects of the gods are also common throughout Talgazan. While there are few permanent temples in Talgazan, there are a number of ritual and religious sites that tribes visit as they migrate.

Many Talgazani venerate nature spirits and/or their ancestors, either in addition to or instead of other gods. Other traditional beliefs in the region include soul-dreaming and ghost worship, though these have begun to decline in recent years. These practices vary widely by tribe and region.

The taiga giants worship the spirits of their ancestors, who they regard with a great sense of reverence. Animism and ancestor worship are widespread amongst all peoples of Talgazan, sometimes instead of and sometimes in addition to the veneration of deities.

Society

Talgazan tribes are almost entirely nomadic and have traditions that reflect this lifestyle. Individuals are expected to contribute everything they can to the tribe, and generally have few only a few prized personal possessions as a result. Tribe members look to respected elders or warriors for guidance, depending on the situations in which they find themselves.

Giant communities tend to be more settled, usually moving between seasonal villages. Smaller folk of Talgazan understand not to enter these villages even when unoccupied in the off-season, as they are frequently trapped to dissuade looters and opportunists.

Most Talgazan tribes are a mix of human, orc, and half-orcs - very few tribes consistent of individuals of a single ancestry.

Tribal shamans are key to the social structure and the very survival of the tribes. These shamans provide magical guidance and healing, and their connections with the lands are seen as a powerful blessing.

In the last few centuries, the inhabitants of Talgazan have begun to adopt more of the traditions and customs of outsiders, as more foreigners venture into Talgazan. Some tribes have adopted these changes wholeheartedly, while others remain more traditionalist and suspicious of outside influence. Traditionalist Talgazan tribes tend to be wary of outsiders, especially practitioners of unfamiliar magic, but not outright xenophobic.

Some of the human and orcish tribes adopt taiga giant children, usually those that have been orphaned or abandoned. These giants are then raised as if they were part of the rest of the tribe, though they are almost universally treated as esteemed members. Most communities see great value in having giants on their side for their great strength, even at the cost of feeding them as they grow to adulthood. A very few tribes take this practice a step further and kidnap the giant children, though most understand this is a terrible idea.

Certain tribes of giants in Talgazan select members to "join" Airuz, a mysterious yet seemingly benevolent entity. Rarely an honor extended to more than one individual from a tribe at a time, at the absolute most, after meeting Airuz these individuals adopt the role of Murmurer within their tribe. Murmurers all have an unusual detachment from the world and a seeming lack of regard for their own self-preservation, yet they also gain greatly extended lifespans and an ability to see all that is observed by other Murmurers, a great boon to their tribe in an often unpredictably changing landscape.

Languages

A multitude of languages are spoken in Talgazan. Among humans and orcs, Aurignacian is the primary language, an old tongue still used to convey the earliest oral traditions. Orcish is widely spoken by orcs and humans as well. With increasing contact with outsiders to the south, some individuals within Talgazan have begun adopting Common or Hellean as well. The giants are, predictably, known to speak Jotun.

Music and arts

Talgazan music heavily uses animal horns as instruments, both for musical purposes and for long-range communication. Harps and drums are also popular.

Traditions

Talgazan communities have a shared practice of taming and riding the great beasts that wander the tundra and taiga. In particular, the human, orc, and half-orc tribes are well known and feared for riding into battle atop their trained mammoths, and using predators, specifically smilodons, as attack animals. The giants maintain similar practices, running down their prey with packs of winter wolves. Megafauna are generally only hunted as part of ritual events, as they are too dangerous and useful to pursue most of the time.

Ward masks, magical paints used to protect their bearers, are a popular means for Talgazan warriors to defend themselves from harmful magical effects. The intricate body paint for which these fighters are well known is the result of ward masking, or else is an attempt to project an image of invulnerability with mundane paints.

Food and cuisine

Animals are hunted for both meat and fur, and this diet is supplemented by fish and foraged plants like berries, root vegetables, and greens. Pine needle tea is also commonly consumed, and many tribes have ritual tea ceremonies. Near the conclusion of winter, some tribes also tap maple trees for their sap, which is then refined into a delicious sugar.

Despite the relative simplicity of the ingredients, Talgazan cuisine is much greater than the sum of its parts. Especially for special occasions, many dishes are laboriously prepared and involve significant work from the entire tribe. As with many other aspects of their life, food is a highly communal endeavor in Talgazan.

Migration and urbanization

There are few permanent settlements in Talgazan. Most tribes migrate to follow herd animals or to follow favorable weather - leaving this nomadic lifestyle invariably leads to food shortages as the tribes struggle to support themselves in a relatively barren landscape. There are few exceptions to this among the humans, orcs, and half-orcs, but a handful of permanent sites do exist. Most commonly these take the form of collections of sod houses or reinforced hide shelters, frequently with some sort of exterior wall around the settlement. Additionally, some orcs live within the dwarven ruins of the Runewith mountains, though rarely venture too far underground due to the ancient dangers known to exist there.

Many sites are not inhabited year round, but rather are visited seasonally. Some, like Yawrai and Ukha, are located in areas that become more verdant in the short summer months. Tribes migrate to these sites to forage the food that becomes more plentiful in these times then move out again once the weather turns colder.

Immigration and emigration

People from outside Talgazan have begun to settle farther within in recent centuries, primarily driven by colonial sentiment in Asteria and Koritan. Adventurers have long seen Talgazan as a challenging land in which to seek danger and treasure, and some Talgazani leave the region to adventure elsewhere in the world as well.

Travel

Travel within Talgazan is a continuous process - few tribes remain in place for long. Travel is either done on foot or by use of a variety of tamed animals. Mammoths, mastodons, and elk are generally the most commonly used animals for this purpose, but few can be picky, and if another animal can be tamed then it will be put to use as well.

Government

Talgazan has no central government. Individual communities and tribes govern themselves by long standing traditions and practices, usually strongly valuing the advice of elders and experienced individuals. There are many similarities between these systems, but they vary by location and the particular history of the community.

Economy

Talgazan does not have an organized or extractive economy. Most who live there are hunter-gatherers adept at acquiring what they need to survive. Some international traders are interested in the megafauna of Talgazan, usually seeking the pelts or other body parts of the large creatures.

Relations

The settlers of Asteria have begun encroaching on the traditional hunting grounds of some of the tribes of Talgazan. While some have reached an uneasy understanding, others remain hostile to the settlers. The Asterian town of Drelin is a point of contention in particular. The town was founded on an ancient inter-tribal meeting site, and the settlers have begun disturbing the nearby burial grounds. Asterian attempts to settle the Whispering Hills have been thwarted by the giants, who are both highly unfriendly to the newcomers and easily have the force to keep them at bay.